'Still have your eyelashes?' he asked. He was joking, but I could hear concern beneath the humor.
'I'm fine. Are you working twenty-four shifts now?'
'I crashed here at the precinct. Then I get a wakeup call from someone saying Burl Rollins wanted to talk to me. I think you know the rest.'
'Too well. More excitement than I planned on.'
'You get a read on the bad guy?'
'Not really. He was all in black and a man of few words.'
'Could he have been someone you've interviewed along the way?'
'The only thing I can say with certainty is that he was male. Probably the same person who's been following me like a coyote after a lost calf since day one.'
'I need to teach you a few things about busting a tail.'
'Not tonight, please. But if the offer is still good to get back into the prison, I want to talk to Lawrence Washington, find out why he kept quiet about Sara all these years, figure out why he won't help himself if he's innocent.'
'I'd like to hear those answers myself. We'll go tomorrow. Bring the father, if possible.'
'You want that leverage, huh?'
'Yup. We might even have Thaddeus's DNA results by the time we get to Huntsville,' Jeff said.
'I know what the test will show, but if we can convince Lawrence he has a son—'
'He'll talk about his relationship with Sara,' Jeff finished. 'Her story, what happened to her, is key.'
'Right. I'll arrange for the handicapped van. See you tomorrow, then?'
'Absolutely. I'm very glad I
'Are you upset with me for going into that storage unit without Burl?'
'Not as much as when I first heard what you did. I should have known you'd keep a set of those keys, and don't repeat this to anyone with a badge, but I admire you for working this case every which way you could, even if you've made a few dumb moves.'
'Dumb moves? I'm allowed to label them dumb, not you,' I said with mock anger.
'Remember that the next time I do something stupid,' he said. 'I love you, Abby. See you tomorrow.'
The arrangements for the van and Jeff's need for a few hours of sleep came in quite handy. I also had a chance to retrieve my car from the storage facility. We didn't pick up Thaddeus until around three p.m. Monday. The driver took care of getting Thaddeus and his chair into the back passenger area, then designated me to carry the insulated medical bag containing Thaddeus's glucose monitor, snacks and insulin.
The call from the lab came right after we merged onto the freeway heading toward Huntsville. Jeff put the call on speakerphone so Thaddeus could hear.
'Paternal grandparent isn't always the best—we like maternal connections when you skip generations,' said the woman on the phone.
'Bottom line?' Jeff asked.
'Seventy percent probability older donor is closely related to young male donor.'
'Yes!' I did a Tiger Woods fist pump.
'Thanks, Bev. I owe you,' Jeff said.
'You never owe me,' she answered, before disconnecting.
My excitement at having this confirmation was overshadowed by a tinge of jealousy. But I kept my lip zipped about it and said, 'I knew it, Thaddeus. You have a grandson.'
I was sitting next to him, and he reached over and took my hand. His was cold when he squeezed mine. 'Something good for once. Praise God, something good.'
'Maybe this will help us convince Lawrence to tell us what he knows,' I said. 'The bullet found inside Verna Mae came from the same gun that put a round in your wall, Thaddeus.'
'How's that help my son?'
'That same gun killed Amanda Mason,' I said.
Thaddeus took this in, not speaking for several seconds. 'That's hard evidence,' he finally said. 'Think he could get a new trial out of this?'
'I don't know,' Jeff said quickly. 'But if you can convince him to talk, tell us if he knew who owned that gun, it would sure help.'
'That's why we're a traveling road show today, right?' said Thaddeus. He looked at me. 'Tell me again, how old is Lawrence's boy?'
'Nineteen.'
'I've missed nineteen years. Got plenty to make up for.'
'You ever watch college basketball?' I asked.
'Nope. After Lawrence was taken from us, it hurt to watch kids doing what he should have been doing— using his talent. We'd gone to every one of his high school baseball games, stood behind him when he signed his letter of intent. Nope. I got to hate sports, all of them.'
'You'll have to learn to at least like basketball again. Your grandson is a star athlete,' I said.
Thaddeus smiled. 'Won't be hard to like it. Won't be hard at all.'
We talked about Will all the way to Huntsville, and I told him all I knew about his newfound grandson. When we arrived at the prison barricade, however, Thaddeus's good spirits faded quickly.
'He'll be upset at me coming,' he said as the driver lowered the automatic ramp and then maneuvered Thaddeus and his chair onto the parking lot asphalt.
'He loves you. He'll get over it,' I answered.
Jeff said, 'We'll take it from here' to the driver.
After we went through the security checks, Jeff arranged for us to meet with Lawrence in an interview room rather than the visitors' area. Guess he has more pull than DeShay.
'I get a bad feeling every time I come here,' Thaddeus said as Jeff wheeled him down a corridor, one of Goree's gray shadow guards leading the way. 'But it's worse today. They say hell is hot, but I think it's as cold as this place.'
'You need my jacket?' Jeff asked.
'Nah. This kind of cold comes from inside. No jacket gonna help that.'
We were taken to a small room, bigger than the chaplain's closet, but still a tight squeeze for a wheelchair. This place had been built long before wheelchairs were common.
We waited in tense silence as the guard left to get Lawrence. When they finally brought him in, the tension grew a thousandfold.
Lawrence looked at his father for a brief second then turned angry eyes on me. 'What the hell do you think you're doing?'
'Sit,' Jeff said, his voice hard as granite.
'I wanted to come,' said Thaddeus. 'I got something big to tell you, son.'
Lawrence looked down, rubbing his white-clad thighs up and down. 'You don't need to see me like this. It's not good for you, Pops.'
'Don't you want to know why they brought me?' Thaddeus's voice was soft, and when I looked his way, I saw his eyes were brimming with tears.
Lawrence had noticed this, too. 'See what you all have done? He doesn't need this kind of stress.'
'He needs his family,' I said. 'And that's you.'
'What do you know about it?' Lawrence raised his chin defiantly.
'She knows more than I did a few hours ago,' Thaddeus said. 'You have a son, Lawrence. I have a grandson.'
'What the hell are you talking about?' Even though his father had spoken, Lawrence directed the question at me.
'Time to tell us about Sara Rankin,' I said.
Lawrence shook his head, looked down again. 'I don't know what you're talking about. You've been filling my father's head.' He glared at me. 'What are you, some kind of sadist?'
Jeff said, 'We have DNA proving that your father and Will Knight are related. If we could get your DNA, the
